https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/asml_to_open_beijing_facility/     ASML will open Beijing facility despite US sanctions on China

SINGAPORE: Major changes have been made to Singapore’s electoral map, with just five Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and four single-seat wards remaining unchanged from the last election. Five new GRCs and six new Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) have been created, according to the report released by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) on Tuesday (Mar 11), almost seven weeks after it was convened. The total number of constituencies now stands at 33, compared to 31 previously. The next parliament will comprise 97 elected Members of Parliament, up from the current 93, with each MP representing 28,384 voters – slightly fewer than in the last election. The EBRC explained in its report that the changes took into consideration the significant growth in voter numbers in certain areas, along with consequential changes to adjacent wards. Some boundary lines have also been realigned along geographical features such as major roads. Six of the 15 SMCs are new – Bukit Gombak, Jalan Kayu, Jurong Central, Queenstown, Sembawang West and Tampines Changkat. Gone from the map are Yuhua, Bukit Batok, Hong Kah North, MacPherson and Punggol West, which have been absorbed into GRCs. There are now 18 GRCs, including five new ones: Pasir Ris-Changi, Punggol, Jurong East-Bukit Batok, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights and West Coast-Jurong West. Click on the map to explore the electoral boundary changes: Of the GRCs, 10 will have five MPs while eight will have four members. The boundaries of the opposition-held Aljunied GRC were also redrawn for the first time since the 2011 hustings. The EBRC was tasked to “keep the average size of GRCs, the proportion of Members of Parliament elected from SMCs, and the average ratio of electors to elected MPs, all at about the same as that in the last General Election”, when it was formed in late January. A total of 82 seats will be contested in GRCs in the coming General Election — an average of 4.56 MPs per GRC. This continued a downward trend over the past election cycles. The 2020 contest saw 4.65 MPs per GRC, down from 4.75 MPs per GRC in 2015 and five MPs per GRC in 2011. The figure had peaked at 5.36 in 2001 and 2006. The GRC system was established in 1988 to ensure that the minority races will be represented in parliament. GRCs can have three to six MPs and at least one of them must be from a minority race. Moreover, the number of GRCs with a Malay MP cannot be more than three-fifths the total number of GRCs. UNEVEN VOTER GROWTH The overall growth in voters across the island was not evenly distributed across the various wards, said the EBRC in its report. “Due to population shifts and new housing developments, some EDs (electoral divisions) such as Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Sembawang GRC, Tampines GRC, Hong Kah North SMC and Potong Pasir SMC have experienced higher growth than others,” it said. There were 2,753,226 voters on the electoral roll as of Feb 1 this year, an increase of 101,791 electors from 2,651,435 electors in the last contest, said the EBRC. The starting point of its review was to look at wards which had grown significantly since the last election – Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Hong Kah North SMC, Sembawang GRC and Tampines GRC. “Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC has seen the largest increase in the number of electors since the last GE, and will continue to grow with new housing developments,” it said. There are currently 184,593 voters in the constituency, up from 166,556 who cast their ballots in the 2020 contest – an increase of 18,037, or 10.8 per cent The Punggol estates in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC were hence carved out and merged with Punggol West SMC to form a new four-member Punggol GRC, the EBRC said. “This will also better reflect the identity of the estates in Punggol town.” Hong Kah North SMC, which currently has 45,586 voters and breaches the upper limit for a single-seat ward, “has grown significantly and will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years, due to new housing developments in Tengah and Bukit Batok West”, according to the report. “It has become too big to remain as an SMC,” said the EBRC, in explaining its rationale for absorbing the Tengah estates into Chua Chu Kang GRC. A new Bukit Gombak SMC was then formed from the Bukit Gombak and Hillview estates in Chua Chu Kang GRC, in order to keep the ward as a four-member team while “accommodating significant future population growth in Tengah”. Voter growth also saw the creation of Sembawang West SMC from Sembawang GRC, and Tampines Changkat SMC from Tampines GRC. “The committee also recommended reducing the size of Ang Mo Kio GRC, which has the most electors of any ED, by carving out some polling districts to form a new Jalan Kayu SMC,” the EBRC said. Ang Mo Kio GRC currently has 190,800 voters.   IMPACT ON ADJACENT WARDS With the formation of the new Punggol GRC, the remaining districts in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC were then merged with adjacent areas from East Coast GRC. Together with the Loyang and Flora estates, they form a new four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC. East Coast GRC then in turn took in districts from Marine Parade GRC, comprising the Chai Chee HDB estates and the Siglap private estates. High population growth in Potong Pasir SMC due to the new Bidadari developments meant the EBRC moved districts from the single-seat ward to Marine Parade GRC. MacPherson SMC and an adjacent district from Mountbatten SMC, were also absorbed into Marine Parade GRC. “Even with the Tengah estates being absorbed into Chua Chu Kang GRC, the remaining Hong Kah North SMC, comprising Bukit Batok West estates, is still too big and growing,” said the EBRC. The remaining districts of Hong Kah North SMC, together with adjacent ones in Bukit Batok and Yuhua SMCs, hence merged with Jurong GRC to form a new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC. To maintain the new constituency as a five-member team, some areas were carved out to form a new Jurong Central SMC. Some estates in Jurong West and Taman Jurong were also moved to the adjacent West Coast GRC, with the new bloc renamed as West Coast-Jurong West GRC. To maintain the number of MPs there, the eastern-most district of the current West Coast GRC, namely estates in Harbourfront and Sentosa, were placed under Radin Mas SMC. Areas in the Dover and Telok Blangah estates were also absorbed into the adjacent Tanjong Pagar GRC. A new Queenstown SMC was then created from Tanjong Pagar GRC in order to maintain its five-member quota. REALIGNMENT, DOUBLE-BARREL NAMES Some other boundaries were also altered to align with key geographical features, said the EBRC. “In particular, the HDB developments under construction at Rail Green I @ CCK and Rail Green II @ CCK straddle the current electoral boundary between Chua Chu Kang and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs. The boundary was aligned to the former railway track which no longer exists,” it explained. The boundary was hence realigned along Woodlands Road instead, effectively assigning these new housing estates to Chua Chu Kang GRC. Polling districts in Tampines West, located in the east of Bedok Reservoir and currently under Aljunied GRC, were also shifted to Tampines GRC. Holland-Bukit Timah GRC has also absorbed a portion of Upper Bukit Timah Road, currently under Jurong GRC. “The committee recommended maintaining status quo for Bishan-Toa Payoh, Jalan Besar, Marsiling-Yew Tee, Nee Soon, Sengkang GRCs and Bukit Panjang, Hougang, Marymount and Pioneer SMCs,” the EBRC said of the wards left untouched from 2020. Double-barrelled names have also been adopted to “better reflect the identities of the geographical areas in the GRCs”, added the EBRC. Timeline of Singapore's general elections from 2006 to 2020, from when the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee was convened until Polling Day. (Infographic: CNA/Clara Ho) POLLS IMMINENT The next milestone will be to update and certify the registers of electors, before the elections are called later, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a Facebook post on Tuesday.  The EBRC is made up of five senior public servants. Chaired by Secretary to the Prime Minister Tan Kee Yong, it also includes Singapore Land Authority chief executive Colin Low, Housing Board chief executive Tan Meng Dui, chief statistician Koh Eng Chuan and ELD head Lim Zhi Yang. The government has accepted the committee’s recommendations and will implement them. With the release of the new boundaries, voters now await the date of the next general election, which must be held by Nov 23 this year. The next step is for President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to dissolve parliament under the advice of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, after which the contest must be held within three months. The government will continue to retain decision-making power until the election is over and the next government is sworn in. The public service also continues functioning as usual. The writ is typically issued on the same day as parliament’s dissolution. There is no fixed timeline between the release of the EBRC report and the announcement of the election. In the last hustings, Singaporeans waited just over 14 weeks, when the General Election was held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in 2001, the gap was just one day.

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